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Three Budget Strategies for Successful Brand Activations

Make the right play this upcoming season and put on an activation that scores with fans and boosts your social coverage.

Players and coaches aren’t the only ones already ratcheting up for the fall season. We know that events teams all over the U.S. are already planning and budgets are being finalized. From gameday tailgates to fall marathons, putting on a flawless production (and staying within budget!) takes considerable effort.

Let Britten outline the budgeting tips that create a memorable brand activation for any spend limit—and provide the baseline assets to gradually grow your future events!

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1. Enterprise Level Event Activation

Bold brands make big plays—and manage budgets with these tips.

Take a glance at some outrageous events—Aerosmith on tour, NFL opening kick-off, or a Fendi pop-up in SoHo. It may seem like cost is no object. But even these high-production events have monetary constraints, and perhaps more relevant—infrastructure needs! Even an outlandish production has a logistical component, and time and again Britten has provided these basic necessities to get your event off the ground:

Capitalize on your event budgeting by acquiring hardware and developing creative processes that can be used year over year. Updated with refreshed branding, your initial infrastructure investment can keep servicing events long into the future and keep your messaging current.

Along with establishing necessities, another way to be budget conscious during your design is to get specific with your product needs. Focusing on a desired appearance can prove more cost effective over a certain requested material. For example, if you’re looking for a metallic textured finish, a Foam3D™ foam sculpture can save thousands of dollars over a metal art installation—not only in fabrication, but also in transportation and installation costs too!

Another tip is to consider mobile structures over permanent builds for event activations. By choosing a BoxPop® custom container or TrailerBox™ you get a platform agile enough to keep pace with your vision. Take your brand experiences to numerous venues with your assets and full display in tow! From a portable tailgate kitchen to a pop-up merchandise shop, make it mobile!

Branded experiences at this level also afford great potential for cross-promotion, sponsorship opportunity and revenue generation. The current trend in sponsorship is carefully selecting which areas of experience can be sold. And at Britten, we help marketing teams and creative agencies capitalize on the parameters of sponsorship agreements, and then optimizing those identified opportunities with vibrant imagery, material, and creativity to make support as attractive as possible!

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2. Growth Level Brand & Event Activation

Crowd-sourced—build audience connection by letting your fanbase help grow event engagement.

Developing brands are often the most budget conscious of our clients since growth can be difficult to predict. A brand activation event that holds back is less likely to exceed audience expectations and that can inhibit growth. On the other hand, going for broke and putting on an extravaganza that outpaces budgets can awe fans but leave you well…broke!

The Britten approach is to work with brands and their creative agencies to move from concept to completion, using our three decades of experience in the events industry to make the most of your time, money, and environment.

Growing brands may use a combination of the following, and some may even employ them all:

An important strategy for brand activations on a budget is to leverage your given environment as your promotional stage. Transform non-descript parking decks into massive advertising opportunities with building wraps! Take advantage of unconventional locations like stairways, mall ceilings, and underutilized spaces for maximum impact at a reduced spend!

On the ground, a basic three-dimensional prop gives pause and has natural selfie draw—and a reasonable cost! Easy to set up and transport, a tactfully placed Foam3D™ brand logo, hashtag or product prop can provide outsized awareness and add a playful accent to any activation space! Or set the stage and make it a regal event with some simple print work or event backdrop. Pair with step-and-repeat graphics for a profession media setting or create a fantasy scene with detailed and vibrant fabric imagery.

Some environments will naturally conflict with your brand message and marketers can struggle to control the narrative. If your atmosphere is at odds your brand message, Brittan can work with a brand activation team to cultivate the right setting:

All of these stubborn environments can be managed into an inspired event activation or creative brand promotion. In nearly 40 years of working with more than 14,000 brand marketers, Britten has already transformed hundreds of brand event ideas into realities that exceed expectations.

Bayshore Marathon Eventtruss Start Marathon finish line banner.

3. Organization & Community Events Activation

Reuse, repropose, re-engage—make the most of what you’ve got.

So many downtown associations, charity organizations and entrepreneurs contact Britten and BannerSaver™ for assistance when planning a 5K or similar race event or begin outlining a light-pole banner program. Those relationships often start small and grow as participation, production scope and promotional vision expand! Britten suggests a multi-year event activation plan, with each subsequent year building upon the initial assets and established hardware and print purchases.

Organizations and communities typically use the following materials for event activations:

Let’s look at an example of brand activation with a multi-phase approach. We’ll consider an event activation plan for a fall marathon. Our plan below starts with the basics— wayfinding signage, fence scrim for the finish chute, light pole banner displays for promotion.

Inaugural Year Event Activation Approach:

Middle Year Sponsorship & Branding Additions

Advanced Community Event Brand Activation:

*asterisk indicates items that are using hardware purchased in previous years. +indicates items that were printed in previous years and are being reused.

Non-sponsored items

Sponsored items

Take a look at Britten’s extensive portfolio of brand activation examples for more inspiration and event activation ideas.

Breakaway Music Event Coach Trailerbox Coach 6091

Benefits of working with a brand activation agency on event activations

Creative agencies can efficiently translate brand vision to trusted fabrication partners like Britten. This especially true in regard to artwork standards and formatting for producing signage, banners, displays, fencing and more.

Event activation agencies will also ensure that a brands message remains consistent across all mediums and engagement events. Your agency and having Britten as your production partner will verify that your colors, images, and graphics remain crisp, colorful and on brand.

Harry Styles Moody Center Event Activation shipping container Gray Whale Gin VW Conversion Nighttime

What is event activation?

The definition of event activation is the set of activities, plans, materials, and messages that brand marketers use to engage a target audience around an experience. The goals of good event activation go beyond awareness and attendance and focus instead on the actions of the attendees before, during and after the event.

Best practices for brand or event activations will consider the entire environment, including sound and music, light, texture, color, technology, décor and even how food and aroma fit the brand experience goals. A good brand activation strategy incorporates three dimensions, invites consumer engagement, and creates an environment that matches the brand message.

Brand Activation Services—Render to Reality

Britten provides brand marketers with the services, solutions and products that allow event activations to thrive.

There are two components to any marketing activation program: the idea and the experience. At Britten we collaborate with companies and brand activation agencies to turn vision into experience tailored to a target audience.

Come to Britten with your most outlandish ideas. Even if it's scrawled on a cocktail napkin, we can advise on how to construct your vision, what materials to use, and render a three-dimensional illustration. We can construct the hardware, print the artwork, sculpt your display, and even install it.

We have yet to meet an idea we can’t produce—and we love a challenge. So share your wildest event activation dreams, let’s talk about making them happen.

You bring the idea. We do the build, delivery, and can even install. Click here to see what’s possible, or call 855-763-8203 to talk to a team member.

Related: Big Brand on Campus: 4 Britten Products to Pair with Sponsors

https://britteninc.com/blog/articles/event-activation-ideas-budget